Telford Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 9th December 2016, a new employee of Tudor Griffiths Ltd was injured on his first day working at the quarry. His arm got caught and dragged into the ‘nip point’ between the conveyor belt and rotating tail drum.
He needed multiple skin graft operations and has been left with permanent scarring on his arm.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that Tudor Griffiths had failed to ensure that the fixed guards were effective to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery, despite this risk having been identified several months before the incident.
Tudor Griffiths Ltd of Ellsmere, Shropshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety Executive etc Act 1974. It was fined £44,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,866.05.
HSE inspector Simon Edwards said after the hearing: “This could have easily been prevented and the risk should have been identified. Entanglement in conveyor systems is a significant cause of serious incidents in the quarry industry. Quarry operators should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery.”
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